We're going to be looking at 1 John 2, verses 18 through 25 this morning.
1 John 2, verses 18 through 25.
And this is what God says to us through the letter of John.
Children, it is the last hour.
And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come.
Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they were not of us.
For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it,
and because no lie is of the truth.
Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
No one who denies the Son has the Father.
Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.
If what you heard from the beginning abides in you,
then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made to us.
Eternal life.
The Antichrist, that title has immediate effect in our culture
to conjure up images of the ultimate evil.
Even people who care nothing about Jesus Christ
can find themselves intrigued and spooked by the idea of the Antichrist.
Pop culture, especially horror movies or TV shows,
love the scary potential of the Antichrist.
He's often portrayed as some kind of human-demon hybrid
or maybe even the child of Satan himself.
Here are a few examples.
The TV show Supernatural features a version of the Antichrist.
In the horror movie series The Omen,
little Damien is the son of Satan,
destined to rise up as the Antichrist when he's older.
Antichrist mythology is used in
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,
in Hellboy comics and movies,
in Stephen King novels.
And if you've been around American Christian subculture long enough,
you probably remember Nikolai Karpathia,
the charming and evil Antichrist of the Left Behind novels.
Now what all of these Antichrists have in common
is that every time they're portrayed,
it's as a singular apocalyptic figure
who is spawned from or somehow empowered by Satan himself
and who threatens ultimate destruction to goodness in the world.
And it's probably no surprise
that these images don't capture the biblical vision
of the Antichrist very well.
When we turn to what God says in the Bible about the Antichrist,
most of us probably think immediately of the book of Revelation.
And thanks to Pastor Mike's sermon series through Revelation,
last year we know that as God carries out His plan
for the fullness of time,
He's going to be unsuccessfully opposed
by the unholy trinity
of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
And I think it's fair and accurate biblically
to say that's the ultimate expression of the Antichrist.
But you might be surprised to know
that the term Antichrist is found only in John's letter.
And what we learn about Antichrist here
is quite different than what we expect.
Now the main point of our text this morning
could simply be summarized as don't be an Antichrist.
And that would be an accurate portrayal
of what John is saying.
Don't be an Antichrist.
But I think it would also be accurate
and maybe more edifying to say
that John is urging us to stick with Jesus for life.
That's what he ultimately wants
for anyone who reads this letter
is that we stick with Jesus for life.
And in this text,
he shows us three essential elements
to sticking with Jesus.
Three things that have to be realities in our life
if we're going to stick with Jesus for the long haul.
We have to be somewhere.
We have to confess something.
And we have to know why it matters.
So first of all, we have to be somewhere.
We see this in verses 18 through 19.
In verses 18 through 19,
there are two major surprises about the Antichrist.
The first one is in verse 18.
Children, it is the last hour.
And as you've heard that Antichrist is coming,
so now many Antichrists have come.
Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.
The first major surprise about the Antichrist
is that there's many of them.
In fact, we can't even really say
the Antichrist anymore
because there's more than one.
And they're not just coming at some point in the future
to bring about the end of the world.
By the time John wrote this letter,
they'd already started rolling out.
So right away, if we're going to think rightly
according to God's Word
about the reality of Antichrist,
we need to recalibrate
from thinking about one person
to thinking about a stream of people
or a category of people throughout time.
You notice that John also says
that we are in the last hour
and that these Antichrists are an indication
that we are in the last hour.
What does he mean by the last hour?
He means that we are in the final stage
of God's redemptive mission.
Jesus, the Son of God, has come
and no greater revelation will be given.
There's not some newer covenant coming
than the one that Jesus brought.
There's not some greater salvation coming
than the one that Jesus has accomplished.
All that remains at the end of this last hour
is for God to finalize
what Jesus has already begun.
So the last hour is this time in history
begun in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
and completed at the end of his work
when he finishes all that he's begun.
And everyone who lives in the last hour,
the most fundamental thing about them
is their relationship to Jesus.
Jesus is the defining reality of the last hour.
And we're going to see more about this idea shortly
because it's central to what John
is trying to say here to this church.
So the first major surprise,
there are many Antichrists.
The second major surprise is in verse 19.
He says,
The second major surprise about these Antichrists
is where they come from.
They don't come from some bizarre union
of a human and a demon.
They aren't unleashed from some pit in hell.
They aren't sitting in some Satanist cult meeting right now.
They come from the church.
Who wants to own that?
A church members meeting,
someone's giving an update.
They say,
You know, it's been a tough year.
We've been working our way through the pandemic.
And unfortunately,
three Antichrists went out from us
into the world this last year.
Sounds kind of absurd, right?
But that's what John is saying.
John is saying that there were participants
in the life of the church,
people who we would assume professed to be Christians,
who at some point left the church
and left the faith.
And it's their departure from the church
that identifies them as Antichrist
and proves that they never truly belonged to the faith.
When these people left the church,
it indicated that there was something wrong all along.
And now by going out from the church,
they are identified as Antichrist.
And we're going to see in the next section
what it is that made them Antichrists.
What is it that constitutes an Antichrist?
But it's their going out that identifies them.
So the first essential element
to sticking with Jesus for life
is that you've got to be somewhere.
And that somewhere is the church.
No one should expect that they or anyone else
can stick with Jesus for life outside of the church.
And particularly, I mean regularly gathering
with a local church.
When you read the New Testament,
it is clear that the church is ordained by God
as the gathering of His redeemed people
where His gospel is proclaimed
and where we learn to follow Jesus faithfully.
The church is the community
where the identity of God's people is revealed
and sustained.
And so to abandon the church,
to leave the church,
is to call into question your status
as a follower of Jesus.
According to John here,
your location is indicative of your identity.
To leave the church is to indicate
that you never belong to Jesus.
So we need a few clarifying questions
because it's really easy to get this turned around,
what John is saying and what he's not saying.
So here's the first question.
Does going to church then make you a Christian?
No.
It's possible, of course,
to be part of a church and not a true Christian.
In fact, that's what was going on
with these people here that Jesus,
or sorry, that John was talking about.
They were part of a church.
It wasn't being part of a church
that made them a Christian.
They were part of this church for a time,
but eventually they went out.
They left the church.
They left the gospel that it proclaimed.
And so the issue is,
over the long term,
one major indicator,
not the only indicator,
but one major indicator
of whether you are sticking with Jesus
is whether you are located in a church or not.
Here's another question.
Am I saying that you have to stay
at Christ the King Church forever,
or else you're not really sticking with Jesus?
Am I saying that if you leave
Christ the King Church,
are you an antichrist?
No, not necessarily.
We have some wonderful examples
of people who have left recently.
Matt and Elise Sear and their family left,
not because they were leaving the church,
not because they were abandoning
the gathering of God's people,
not because they were rejecting Jesus,
because they felt called by God
to join another local church for a time
in anticipation of eventually
planning a church themselves.
So they did not go out from the church
like John is talking about.
They went out from our church
for the purpose of following God's leading elsewhere.
There were some people from our church
who lived in Racine.
They left our church,
not because they were abandoning
the gathering of God's people,
but because they said,
hey, we live in Racine.
We need to find a church
that's closer to home
so that we can be more engaged.
So I'm not saying
that you have to stay
at Christ the King church forever
in order to be
a faithful follower of Jesus.
But I am saying
that you do have to be part
of a church.
You do have to be part
of a church that preaches Jesus
if you want to stick with Jesus
for life.
And right now,
and over this past year,
we faced a lot of pressures
to abandon the church.
We've been dealing with COVID-19.
Initially, it meant
that we had to move
to Zoom meetings.
And then we were meeting
outside for a while,
and now we're meeting
back in the building,
but we have increased distance.
We have mask wearing.
And any one of these things
could lead someone to say,
you know what?
Maybe it's not worth it.
You know,
I've been watching church
on Zoom for a while
or on live stream,
and I don't really think
there's much difference
between being there
and watching.
Now, I think about it.
What's the difference
between watching the church
on live stream
and just watching
any random sermon
once in a while?
And what's the difference
between just watching
a sermon on my computer
and just not getting
out of bed at all?
What difference does it make?
So some of the ways
that we've been separated
may lead some people
to think it's not worth it anymore.
Some people may be frustrated,
frustrated by distance,
frustrated by having to watch on Zoom
if they have to stay
at home right now,
frustrated by having to wear masks,
and they say,
you know what?
I'm tired of all this COVID stuff.
I don't like the decisions
the elders are making
about how we're going
to deal with this.
I'm just going to give up.
We've had political pressures,
a significant election year.
You've probably seen some things
in your fellow church members
that you don't like
online or in person.
You don't like what they've said
about the election.
You don't like who you think
they voted for.
And you know
that you're closer to Jesus
than they are
because of who they voted for
and who you voted for.
And in fact,
you're so close to Jesus
that you just need to give up
on this group of people.
They're so much farther away
from Jesus than you are.
The best bet
for your relationship with Jesus
is to get out of here.
there's a lot of pressures
and temptations
to abandon the gathering
of God's people
to leave the local church
right now.
But we need to remember
that our preferred political party
or faction
has not been ordained by God
as the vehicle
of His redeeming the work
in the world.
Only the church has.
And no precautions
we may take,
even if you agree with them
or not,
no precautions we may take
are going to stop
God's work in the world
and in His church
in particular.
So continue gathering
with a local church.
If it's not this one,
that's okay.
But find a local church
that preaches the gospel
of Jesus
and continue gathering
with them.
If we're going to stick
with Jesus for life,
we have to be somewhere.
That somewhere is in the church.
Secondly,
if we're going to stick
with Jesus for life,
we have to confess something.
We may ask,
in light of these things,
in light of the fact
that antichrists
aren't coming from
this evil world,
they're coming
from within our gatherings,
how can we have
any confidence?
if even some
who seem to be part
of the church
are antichrists,
how can we have
the ability
to sort these things
out rightly?
How can we know
if we're a faithful follower
of Jesus
or if we're an antichrist?
Well,
John helps us out
in verses 20
and 21.
How can we figure
these things out?
He says,
but you have been
anointed by the Holy One
and you all have knowledge.
I'll write to you
not because you do not
know the truth
but because you know it
and because no lie
is of the truth.
The way we can sort
these things out
is through the testimony
of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing
of the Holy Spirit
given to us by God
gives us knowledge,
which is exactly
what Jesus promised
that the Holy Spirit
would do for us
when He was telling
His disciples
about the coming
of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing
of the Holy Spirit
on our lives
given to us by Jesus
as a guarantee
of our salvation
gives us the knowledge
necessary to distinguish
between faithful follower
and antichrist
both in our own hearts
and in those around us.
But here's the thing
John says,
sometimes that Holy Spirit
deposit of knowledge
needs reactivation
by teaching
and by reminder.
And John says,
that's why I'm writing
to you.
I want these things
that I'm writing
to you to align
with the testimony
of the Holy Spirit
in your hearts
and reactivate
what He's already
given to you.
It's kind of like
an SOS pad.
You've got a piece
of steel wool
infused with soap.
It's really good
for cleaning things.
Let's not activate it
until you get it wet.
You've got to suds it up.
And so John is writing
to suds up
the Holy Spirit anointing
so that these believers
can effectively
apply that truth
in their own situation.
And what happens is
as we hear the truth,
the Holy Spirit
given to us by God
testifies to it
and says,
this is true.
We see it for what it is
because of the Holy Spirit.
And John knows
that because of the testimony
of the Holy Spirit,
he can write to these believers
about the realities
of Antichrist
and they will acknowledge
it as true
and they'll be able
to apply it.
So with the Holy Spirit
anointing
and with the truth
of God's Word,
we can competently
and rightly judge
between faithful follower
and Antichrist.
Again,
beginning with ourselves.
So the Holy Spirit
helps us distinguish
the truth
to recognize it.
But what is that truth?
What is the content
of the truth?
What does the truth entail
that John is talking about?
If we have to confess
something in order
to stick with Jesus
for life,
how do we know
what to confess?
Look at verses 22-23.
Who is a liar
but he who denies
that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the Antichrist,
he who denies
the Father and the Son.
No one who denies
the Son has the Father.
Whoever confesses
the Son has the Father also.
If I were to ask you,
what is the opposite
of the Antichrist?
If you were like me,
you would be inclined
to say,
well,
the opposite of an Antichrist
is obviously Christ
because he's Antichrist.
But according to John,
the opposite
of an Antichrist
is not Jesus.
it's a confessor
of Christ.
A confessor of Christ
is the opposite
of an Antichrist.
And what does it mean
to confess Jesus?
Well, first,
we probably have to understand
what it means
to deny Jesus.
Because he says,
who is a liar
but he who denies
that Jesus is the Christ?
What does it mean
to deny Jesus?
It doesn't mean
to deny that Jesus existed.
That wasn't really
an issue
when John
was writing this letter.
Jesus was with
many of these people
not that long ago.
Some of them
had seen him.
Some of them
had heard from others
who'd seen them.
It was not a question
of does Jesus exist?
So denying Jesus
does not mean
denying that he existed.
It doesn't even mean
denying that he had
some divine power.
People that John
was writing to
would have been
willing to accept,
you know,
people can come
with divine power,
empowered by God
or the gods.
to deny Jesus
is to deny
that he is the Christ.
Christ means
Messiah
or anointed one.
To deny
that Jesus is the Christ
means to deny
that he is the one
sent by God the Father
to accomplish
his plan
for the redemption
of creation.
To deny
that Jesus is the one
who died for the sins
of the world,
rose in eternal life,
ascended to the throne
of God,
and will one day
return to fully
establish his kingdom.
In other words,
to deny
Jesus as the Christ
is to deny
that he is exactly
who God has revealed
him to be.
A generic Jesus
is not an option.
That's why
John is so anxious
at the very beginning
of his letter,
chapter 1,
verse 1,
he says,
that which was
from the beginning
which we have heard,
which we have seen
with our eyes,
which we have looked upon
and have touched
with our hands.
The life was made manifest
and we have seen it
and testified to it.
It was made manifest
to us,
that which we have seen
and heard
we proclaim to you.
John is saying
something specific
has happened.
Someone specific
has come.
And we want to tell you
about that.
We want you to believe
that a generic Jesus
isn't an option.
Any version of Jesus
that doesn't include
all that he claimed
about himself
isn't an option.
anyone who confesses
a generic Jesus
is actually
an antichrist.
Because John says
you have to confess
that Jesus is the Christ,
that he is the anointed one
from the Father.
There has to be
specificity
to our confession
about Jesus.
In order for our confession
about Jesus
to be true,
it has to align
with the reality
of who he really is.
And the more we see
clearly what this means,
to confess Jesus
means to align
with who he really is,
we begin to realize
that we can deny Jesus
with our lives
as well as with our words.
In fact,
Paul says in Titus
that it's possible
to profess God
with our mouths
but deny him
by our works.
So here's a working
definition of denying Jesus.
to live
or to speak
against the reality
of who Jesus is.
To live
or to speak
contrary
to who the Father
has revealed Jesus
to be.
To contradict
what God has revealed
about the Son.
An antichrist
is someone
who refuses
to confess
Jesus
for who he really is.
Things like
Jesus is not
God's anointed.
He is not
God's only plan
for solving
the problem of sin
and making the world
right again.
Things like
Jesus is optional.
I can have
a meaningful
spiritual life
or connection
to God
apart from Jesus.
Or things like
I can claim
the name of Jesus
or the name
of the Father
but live in a way
that lies to the world
about who he is.
To deny
Jesus as the Christ
means to live
or to speak
contrary
to who God
has revealed him
to be.
And so if that's
the definition
of denying
the definition
of confessing
Jesus
is the opposite.
To confess
Jesus
is to live
and speak
in agreement
with reality
as revealed
by God.
To confess
Jesus means
that when people
hear your words
and see your life
they see more
clearly who Jesus
really is.
They see that
he really is
God's single solution
to sin
and evil
and suffering.
They see that
he's not optional
at all
when they see
your life
and they hear
your words.
They see in your life
what it means
to put your hope
in Jesus
and they see
a reflection
of who the Father
and the Son are.
To confess
Jesus means
to live
and to speak
in alignment
with who he
has revealed
himself to be.
Now a true
antichrist
denies that
Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is not
the anointed
of God.
He is not
the one
who accomplishes
God's plan.
But even
confessors
of Jesus
can be
influenced
by what
John later
calls in
1 John
the spirit
of the
antichrist.
An influence
that pushes
even confessors
of Jesus
to start
drifting
into living
and speaking
in ways
that lie
about who
Jesus is.
And there
are some
antichrist
tendencies
that can
operate
in all
of our
lives.
So I want
to give
some practical
examples
of these
antichrist
tendencies.
Again,
I'm not saying
that if one
of these
is true
about your
life,
that means
that you're
an antichrist.
In fact,
I'm confident
that at
least one
of these
will have
been true
of all
of you
at some
point
in your
life as
a believer.
But if we
want to
confess Jesus
for all
that he
really is,
we need
to see
the
antichrist
tendencies
that can
threaten
even
confessors
of Jesus.
Here's a
big one.
Watch out
for denying
Jesus by
acting as if
what's most
important
for those
around you
is that
they believe
in God
generically
rather than
repenting and
putting their
faith in
Jesus alone
for salvation.
American
Christians can
have a
tendency to
communicate to
the world
that what's
most important
is that you
just believe
in God,
that you're
not an
atheist or
something like
that.
Do you have
Judeo-Christian
values?
Do you have
family values?
Do you give
some credit to
the guy upstairs
but for us
to communicate
to the people
around us
that belief
in God
generically
is all
that's required
is to deny
who Jesus
really is.
To act
like what's
most important
is putting
God back
in the schools
or putting
the Ten
Commandments
back in the
courthouses
or just for
people to
acknowledge God
in their
public speeches
is not
enough.
Believing the
Ten Commandments
never saved
anybody,
believing that
God exists
never saved
anybody,
faith in
Jesus as
the Messiah
is what
saves people.
Here's another
one, watch
out for denying
Jesus by
speaking and
living as if
some political
figure or
outcome is
your greatest
hope.
to say
that any
politician or
election is
the last
hope of
America or
the church
is an
Antichrist
statement.
Because we
should instead
be confessing
that all
authority belongs
to Jesus,
that the
hearts of
all rulers
are like
water in
his hands,
and that
we as
believers have
hope for a
greater kingdom
than the
USA.
Watch out for
denying Jesus
by finding more
brotherhood in a
political faction
than in the
church, as if
the last hour is
defined by
American politics
rather than by
the Son of
God.
Watch out for
denying Jesus by
claiming to
believe that he's
the king of
the universe,
and yet giving
him the least
of your time
and money.
Watch out for
denying Jesus by
living as if
sexual pleasure is
the greatest thing
that life has to
offer.
Watch out for
denying Jesus by
acting as if
wrongs done to
you are more
unforgivable than
those for which
he has forgiven
you.
So as we think
about the reality
of Antichrist and
what it means to
deny who Jesus is
and what it means to
confess who Jesus
is, let's be
careful of speaking
and living in
ways that are
kind of hard to
see but are
contrary to the
reality of who
Jesus is.
And if you felt
that, hey, you
know what, some of
that stuff was
true in my life,
I know I did,
let's ask God's
forgiveness for
lying to the
world about who
Jesus is and
let's embrace the
incredible privilege
of confessing
Jesus for who he
is by speaking
and living in a
way that clearly
shows that he is
the only savior of
the world, anointed
by God who brings
us to the Father.
And let's confess
what the Father is
really like based on
his revelation to
us.
So John says,
hey, children,
don't be an
antichrist, be a
confessor of
Christ.
If we're going to
stick with Jesus
for life, we have
to be somewhere,
we have to remain
in the fellowship
of the local
church, we have
to confess
something, we
have to confess
the Son and
the Father as
they reveal
themselves.
And number
three, we have
to know why it
matters.
Why does it
matter that we
stick with Jesus
for life?
Verses 24
through 25.
Let what you
heard from the
beginning abide in
you.
If what you heard
from the beginning
abides in you, then
you too will abide in
the Son and in the
Father.
And this is the
promise that he made
to us, eternal
life.
When John talks
about what they
have heard from
the beginning, he's
talking about the
truth of verses
21 and 22.
The confession
confirmed by the
Holy Spirit that
Jesus is the
Christ, the
anointed one.
The confession of
what God has done
through his Son.
And John is
saying, let that
abide in you, let
it remain in you,
hang on to that
truth, don't let
it go, don't let
something else take
its place.
Sticking with
Jesus requires that
we remain in the
church, but it
also requires that
the truth of Jesus
remain in us.
And if the truth of
Jesus remains in
us, what is the
result?
We remain in the
Son and the
Father and we
experience eternal
life.
He says, you too
will abide in the
Son and in the
Father.
And this is the
promise that he
made to us, eternal
life.
And as you read
through 1 John,
you realize that
for John, everything
is connected.
He gives us these
three big tests to
identify if you are
in the faith.
Do you believe
rightly?
Do you obey?
Do you love?
But these aren't
three separate train
tracks.
They're always
crisscrossing over
one another and
intertwining and
bleeding over into
one another.
For John, everything
is connected and
when he says, you
will abide in the
Son and the
Father, and then he
says, this is a
promise that he
made to us,
eternal life.
John's talking
about the same
thing.
Pastor Mike
talked about this
at the end of his
sermon last week.
We remain in the
Son and the
Father and we
experience the
eternal life that
God has promised
to us and it's
the same thing
because life is
found in the
Son and in the
Father.
Salvation and
eternal life are
often described as
a gift.
gift.
And that's true.
That's biblical.
Paul says it.
It's a free gift.
But if we're not
careful, if we think
of life, eternal life
from Jesus only as a
gift, it can blind us
to some of what's
really going on.
Eternal life is not
something that Jesus
hands to us like a
present on Christmas
morning.
It isn't something that
passes from him to us
and then we take it
and go.
Eternal life is Jesus
giving us himself,
giving us the life
that he has.
And apart from him,
we don't have that
life at all.
Eternal life is less
like a box to be
opened and more like
a power source to be
plugged into.
The eternal life
that's promised by
God is found only in
union with him.
And this life that
John is talking about
is the life that we
were meant for.
It's not just life
exactly as it is now,
extended forever.
It's a life that
begins now in a
relationship with the
Father and the Son.
And it does continue
forever, but it also
changes and grows and
is transformed.
And there's a promise
of greater life coming
than what we have yet
seen.
And so, when we
think about this
eternal life, there
are a few things we
need to know.
If you are lonely
right now, which I
think a lot of people
are with COVID, if
you are lonely right
now, you should know
that this life is
relational.
Jesus said, this is
eternal life, that
they know you, the
only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you
have sent.
If you are sick or
weak, then you
or even approaching
death, you should
know that this
imperishable, glorious
life that God has
promised for us is the
resurrection life of
Jesus.
Jesus who said, I am
the resurrection and
the life.
And the life that
Jesus has now in his
resurrection that will
continue forever is the
life that he promises
to share with you.
If life right now feels
boring or meaningless to
you, and the idea of
eternal life just sounds
terrible, you should
know that Jesus right
now is building a
kingdom.
And his promise of
eternal life to you
means that your life and
your actions now are not
meaningless, but they can
have eternal significance
in connection with Jesus.
If your life feels
hopelessly polluted by the
evil of others or the evil
you have done, you should
know that this eternal life
that God promises, it
empowers healing and change
now in relationship with
the Father and it
promises an eternal home
where nothing twisted or
sinful will be allowed to
enter, a place of perfect
peace and justice.
And that's what's on the
line in sticking with Jesus
for life.
And John is saying, don't
miss out on that.
It's been promised to you,
this eternal life.
So stick with Jesus.
Don't be a Jesus denier who
walks away from Jesus'
church.
Be a Jesus confessor who
locks arms with other
confessors and holds on for
the eternal life that begins
now and grows into the full
glory of all that God has
promised.
So Christ the King Church,
let's stick with Jesus for
life.
We're going to need three
things if we're going to make
it.
We need to be somewhere
prayer within the regular
gathering of Jesus'
followers called the church.
We need to confess something
by our lives and our words
showing that Jesus really is
who he said he is.
And we need to know why it
matters because eternal life
is on the line.
So let's pray together.
Father, may none of us here
who have heard your word this
morning be antichrists.
But instead, may all of us
today who have heard your word
remain confessors of Jesus
for life.
Amen.